Fire and Fury Games' Battlefront WWII HISTORICON 2004

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HISTORICON 2004

There were lots of Battlefront events this year, but I unfortunately I (Jim Baker) had to leave the convention early so I didn't get pictures of everything. The BF group hosted a Stalingrad scenario centered around Michael Montemorano's stunning building models, Michael Panzer put on an interesting scenario based on a Russian-German battle, Mike Sincavage tried a conversion of a Skirmish Campaign scenario that worked fairly well, and Mark Hayes hosted a Carentan scenario. Some games I didn't get included a Russian/Japanese battle put on by Steve Keyer of Two Tin Soldiers, and the next installment of the Kokoda trail saga put on by Steven Lee. Rich also hosted Gettysburg a scenario using the regimental F&F rules.

Michael Panzer's Operation Bagration

Michael always puts on interesting and well organized scenarios. This year he tried a game that was based on the initial Russian breakthroughs in the summer of 1944. The interesting thing about this game was that each side had several large groups of reinforcements and the turn of appearance (and possibly the location - I am not sure) of these groups was not fixed, leading to a different situation every time you play the scenario.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
The initial setup	The German defensive positions are on the left, and the Russians are coming in from the left.
Russians move up	Using the shelter of the woods, the initial Russian groups approach the German fortifications.
First Assault	The Russians on the right flank hit the German front line and are repulsed.
Attack in the Center	A force based on Su122s moves up in the middle.
German Tanks	German tanks advance up the right and threaten the Su122s.
Russian Tanks	A Russian T34 group moves into the flank of the PzIV.

A long way to go and a short time to get there

Mike Sincavage converted a Skirmish Campaign scenario to Battlefront. Essentially, it is an attack by several maneuver elements of Elite German mechanized Engineers (!) against a horde of Russians who are set up in a defensive position around a railroad station. The Germans must try to force all of the Russian elements from the field in a 12 turn game, which forces them to throw their quality into an immediate attack on the Russian quantity. As played at the convention, the game ended in a hard-fought draw on the last turn, which is always the sign of a good scenario.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Germans Advance	The Germans (all mounted in halftracks), charge up both sides of the RR embankment. This shot shows the right flank advance.
Germans Advance 2	This view shows the other prong of the advance.
Attack	The German right prong divides into two parts. One part splits off to attack the RR station. While the other moves into the woods where it encounters part of the Russian force.
Assault on the station	The Germans continue to fight for the woods (after initial losses, the Elite engineers make quick headway, while the other group moves over to the embankment to hit the town. The Germans still have not found the bulk of the Russian Forces, which are in the woods at the top of the photo.
Another View	This view shows the view of the station assault from the other side.

Stalingrad

I unfortunately had to leave the convention at this point, and I turned my camera over to Mike Pierce, who did a good job on three battles put on by the F and F team.
The first battle depicted is the Fire and Fury group's Stalingrad scenario. This pitted the BF team (playing the Russian defense) against several experienced convention players handling the Germans.
The star of this scenario was the terrain itself. Mike Montemorano did a a truly awesome job on the buildings. You get the feeling of the destroyed city with the grain elevator looming over everything. This scenario depicts one of the earlier German offensives, before they became totally bogged down and pinned in place.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Stalingrad Photo 01	Stalingrad Photo 01.
Stalingrad Photo 02	Stalingrad Photo 02.
Stalingrad Photo 03	Stalingrad Photo 03.
Stalingrad Photo 04	Stalingrad Photo 04.
Stalingrad Photo 05	Stalingrad Photo 05.
Stalingrad Photo 06	Stalingrad Photo 06.
Stalingrad Photo 07	Stalingrad Photo 07.
Stalingrad Photo 08	Stalingrad Photo 08.
Stalingrad Photo 09	Stalingrad Photo 09.
Stalingrad Photo 10	Stalingrad Photo 10.
Stalingrad Photo 11	Stalingrad Photo 11.
Stalingrad Photo 12	Stalingrad Photo 12.
Stalingrad Photo 13	Stalingrad Photo 13.
Stalingrad Photo 14	Stalingrad Photo 14.

Carentan

Mark Hayes put on a Carentan scenario featuring bocage terrain.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Carentan Photo 01	Carentan Photo 01.
Carentan Photo 02	Carentan Photo 02.
Carentan Photo 03	Carentan Photo 03.
Carentan Photo 04	Carentan Photo 04.
Carentan Photo 05	Carentan Photo 05.

Gettysburg

And Rich put a Gettysburg scenario using the Regimental rules.

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Gettysburg Photo 01	Gettysburg Photo 01.
Gettysburg Photo 02	Gettysburg Photo 02.
Gettysburg Photo 03	Gettysburg Photo 03.
Gettysburg Photo 04	Gettysburg Photo 04.
Gettysburg Photo 05	Gettysburg Photo 05.
Gettysburg Photo 06	Gettysburg Photo 06.
Gettysburg Photo 07	Gettysburg Photo 07.

Kokoda Trail

Steve Lee put on the next installment of his Kokoda Track series, Kokoda Track - Australia's Thermoplyae. .

Click on the Thumbnail for a full-size photo	Description
Battlefield	Overhead Shot of the Battlefield.
Test Game	Test Game-Japanese Advance.
Participants 1	L-R, Japanese commander 1/41 (arm coming in) MIA from pic Japanese commander SNLF (Bruce Whitver) C co 2/14 AIF commander (Bob Daily) A co 2/14 AIF commander (Phil d'Amato) D co 2/14 AIF commander (seated pointing)
Participants 2	L-R HQ 2/14 & 39th Btn. Commander (Ben Rhoads) B co 2/14 AIF commander (Clif Castle) Japanese commander 2/144 (Greg Jablonski) Japanese commander 3/144 (Mike in cap) Japanese commander 2/41 (Kurt Kramer)
Japanese Advance	The Japanese forces advance
Another Japanese Advance	Jap 2/144 advancing through kunai and brush

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